Belt mountable golf ball and tee retainer



Feb. 24, 1970 w. K. NAJJAR 3,497,118

BELT MOUNTABLE GOLF BALL AND TEE RETAINER Filed Sept. 2'7. 196? INVENTOR. Mum/w 1 AMJJi/'.

United States Patent O US. Cl. 224- 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A golf ball retainer for securement to a golfers belt or the like, including a sleeve-like member forming a ball receiving pocket between a back portion and curved, resilient, deformable, spaced fingers extending from the opposite side edges of said back portion and curving generally towards each other so that said back portion and fingers form a generally elliptical cross section, there being a ball receiving mouth at one end and stop means at the opposite end to limit ball insertion, so that said fingers grip the ball astraddle its central portion; said retainer having finger access opening means in its front between said fingers and/or in said platform for ejecting a ball; and a securement tab on said back portion for attachment to the golfers belt or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a handy golf ball retainer for golfers, and more particularly to a belt-Worn golf ball and tee retainer accommodating one or more balls.

Although golf bags have facility for storing extra golf balls and tees, the necessity of retrieving a ball from the bag when the playing ball is lost or damaged constitutes SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a golf ball retaining accessory capable of achieving these functions, that is, of retaining the extra ball or balls on the person of the golfer, positioned for handy retrieval of the ball, functional to allow quick easy ball removal, yet of a nature not to interfere with the normal physical movements of the golfer in his game. Further, the retainer can be used to store extra tees in an optimum manner also. It can be inexpensively manufactured. It is simple to attach to and remove from the golfers belt or the like, at his back.

The golf ball retainer has a ball retaining pocket with a ball receiving mouth, resilient deformable ball gripping portions, finger access opening means for ball ejection, and securement means for attachment to a golfers belt or the like.

The significant features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, and other objects and advantages will also be apparent therefrom, with the invention being defined by the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the novel device for retaining a golf ball;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the device in FIG.

3,497,l l8 Patented Feb. 24, 1970 "ice 1, shown with the golf ball and a pair of tees retained thereby;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the combination in FIG. 2 without the tees; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the device, for retaining two golf balls.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3 constitutes a golf ball retainer 10 that has a sleeve-like member 12 forming a golf ball receiving pocket 14 between a back portion 16 and a plurality of resilient deformable fingers 16 and 16a. These fingers have terminal ends that project generally toward each other through an arcuate curvature on the frontal portion. Back portion 16 has a transverse arcuate curvature, with back portion 16, the end portions, and fingers 18 and 18a defining an ellipse in cross section. They therefore form a non-circular member, preferably an elliptical cylindrical sleeve.

Fingers 18 and 18a terminate short of each other to leave an opening therebetween for access to the ball. These fingers are also somewhat convergent toward their end portions to form a spacing between adjacent fingers. I.e., space 19 between fingers 18, e.g., diverges toward the open zone between sets of the fingers 18 and 18a, to accommodate the major dimension at the central portion or equator of the golf ball. The fingers grip the ball astraddle this circumference or equator. The ball can be readily inserted to its proper relationship with respect to these fingers by limiting its insertion with stop means such as platform 20 which extends across the bottom end of the sleeve. Hence, a ball can be quickly and carelessly punched into the unit through the upper end mouth. The ball can be removed by the golfer inserting this finger into the front space or opening and ejecting the ball. Platform 20 may also have an opening 22 beneath the center of ball B to allow finger access beneath the ball for ejecting the ball from the retainer.

Secured to and preferably integral with the back portion 16 of the unit is securement means, preferably in the form of a depending tab 24. It extends down along the outside back of the sleeve and, in cooperation with the back, forms a generally U-shaped inverted means for receiving the belt or the trousers hem of a player when tab 24 is pushed down behind the belt or trousers. The retainer can be attached to the person adjacent his back so as to not interfere with the normal physical movements of the player in his game.

Preferably, the unit also has a pair of integral, laterally extending ears 28 which are orificed to receive tees T and which extend outwardly adjacent the ends of the elliptical sleeve for handy storage of tees as well as a ball.

The entire unit is preferably formed of integral construction, as of a polymeric material, e.g. high impact polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, or the like. It may alternatively be formed of a thin metal construction such as steel, stainless steel, aluminum or the like. It is important that the electrical sleeve, and particularly the fingers 18 and 18a have a characteristic of being readily resiliently deformed, with a bias toward its initial elliptical, non-circular, configuration to tightly retain a ball.

The second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 is basically the same as the first embodiment, except that it is adapted to retain more than one ball, specifically two balls, one on top of the other. This embodiment includes an elliptical cylinder sleeve 112, a stop platform on the lower end, a first plurality of sets of fingers 118 and 118a cooperative with the lower portion of back panel 116 to retain one ball, and a second plurality of sets of fingers 117 and 117a to retain a second ball on'top of the first. As in the first embodiment, these fingers are integral with the end portion of the back portion and curved out and then toward each other, terminating short of the opposite ones to define a front access space. This device is retained on the golfers belt or trouser top by the same type of securement means 124.

Although the use of the apparatus is generally obvious from the article description given above, it will be briefly reviewed for purposes of clarity. The golfer is able to retain an extra ball (or balls) and extra tees on his person, adjacent his back so as to not interfere with his physical movement, and in a position enabling ready retrieval of the ball. The unit is attached to the golfer by projecting tab 24 behind his belt or trouser top, and pushing it down so that the downwardly opening slot between tab 24 and back portion 16 receives the belt. A ball is positioned in the unit by pushing it down through the upper receiving mouth, thereby temporarily deforming the upper ones of sets of fingers 18 and 18a. It is depressed until the ball strikes platform-stop means 20, at which position all of fingers 18 and 18a are slightly outwardly deformed, astraddle the major circumferential dimension or equator of the ball. These resilient deformable fingers, being partially deformed, apply a force to the ball due to their inherent bias, to retain the ball in position. When the golfer needs this ball, he merely inserts his finger beneath the ball and ejects it from the retainer.

Although several objects and advantages have been pointed out, others will be apparent to those in the art upon reviewing this disclosure. It is also conceivable that certain minor variations of construction may be made in these disclosed embodiments without departing from the concept presented.

Iclaim:

1. A golf ball retainer comprising: a ball receiving sleeve-like member having a generally elliptical cross sectional configuration with an arcuate back portion, and with a ball receiving mouth at one end; the front portion of said member being defined by spaced, resilient, temporarily deformable fingers projecting from opposite ends of said back portion and curving generally toward each other in a manner that said arcuate back portion and said fingers define an ellipse in cross section; said member including transverse ball stop means at the second end limiting the insertion of a golf ball to a position wherein said fingers grip the ball at peripheral zones astraddle the ball equator; and securement means on said back portion for securement of said retainer to a golfers belt or the like.

2. The golf ball retainer in claim 1 wherein said spaced fingers terminate short of each other to define open area therebetween for finger access to push a ball out of said retainer.

3. The golf ball retainer in claim 1 wherein said trans verse ball stop means is a platform having a finger access opening therein for pushing a ball out said mouth.

4. The golf ball retainer in claim 1 of integral, unitary, polymeric construction.

5. The golf ball retainer in claim 1 having a length and a number of fingers sufficient to receive a plurality of golf balls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,911,256 5/1933 Andrew 224-25 X 2,325,039 7/1943 Chesler 312 2,665,830 1/1954 Fowler 224-5 2,756,914 7/1956 Bonderer 224 5 X 2,768,775 10/ 1956 Houser 224 5 CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 211 14; 224-25 

